Ramblings #5

A Ramble on Bodegas and the Light of Consciousness

Photo by Yonghyun Lee on Unsplash

I had a strange sensation as I walked into the Bodega and talked to the owner, who has essentially lived there for the past twenty years. It was one of significance, that we were participating in something very deep and filled with meaning. Which was strange, given the fact that we said all of three or four words to each other. I don’t necessarily know how to describe the feeling that rose up inside of me. Like all abstractions, it is difficult to fully communicate the enormity of what washed over me. I pictured two guys having a similar conversation in India on a street corner, then in Japan, then in Russia, Norway, Alaska, Alabama… all over the world these simple interactions are taking place at enormous rates. Actually, all throughout our history, these interactions have been taking place. Two guys saying nothing much about anything, existing in the same patterns of daily habits. Cigarettes, water, toilet paper and bounty, these are the things we exchange, A couple of words about the weather, and then I go on my way. How many faces do we come across on a daily basis? I see the man at the bodega more than I see my own friends, some months. We share some understanding, we are tuned into each others frequencies a little more each day. Even a glance exchanged as I walk past, makes us more familiar. The truth however, is that we will…